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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28320768">The One Word: ToA Secret Santa 2020</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/forthegloryofdragons/pseuds/forthegloryofdragons'>forthegloryofdragons</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, TOA Secret Santa 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:54:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28320768</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/forthegloryofdragons/pseuds/forthegloryofdragons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas, a time to spend with friends and family, but Jim is overworking himself. Claire's here to help.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The One Word: ToA Secret Santa 2020</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Merry Christmas, @yellowmagicalgirl! </p><p>I'm your Secret Santa! Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Are you absolutely sure you don’t need any help?” Claire teased as Jim darted from one end of the kitchen to the other, juggling between feeding the changeling familiars and cooking what was supposed to be a decent Christmas dinner for a massive group, namely the Guardians of Arcadia. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got this. Just take care of Walter Jr over there. That’s it.” He yelped as one of the kids, Zelda, shoved her bowl onto the floor. She laughed gleefully at the clatter. “You’re exactly like your familiar,” he grumbled, bending down to pick up the bowl and wipe up the mess of baby food. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The changeling familiars appeared just as amused as she was, though they likely didn’t understand the whole dilemma. It was Christmas and Jim had invited, with his mom’s permission, their entire group, over for dinner. All of the self-proclaimed guardians of Arcadia were supposed to arrive within the hour and his mom had been called into the hospital for an emergency. That left him and Strickler alone to take care of the kids. Strickler took up the task of putting them to sleep upstairs, and left Jim to work his magic in the kitchen while he fed the rest of them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, said magic could only be done when he was focused and on schedule. At present, their fancy Christmas meal was just a bunch of half-baked bread rolls and a tray of chicken pot pie. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Claire had offered to come early and help, and thank God she did. She had seen Jim stressed. That was practically his default state, but he was truly a mess. As amused as she was, she was also incredibly worried. He was one to work himself up into a state of anxiety which would leave no room for him to enjoy the actual gathering taking place that evening. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She finished feeding the child in her arms and put him in the playpen. “There’s nothing wrong with ordering in some food just this once and taking it easy, Jim. No one will mind.” She picked up the dirty utensils and tossed them in the dishwasher. “I haven’t seen you so stressed over a meal since…” she paused. “Well, since ever, really. You’re putting way too much pressure on yourself. Christmas is supposed to be fun for everyone, not just the people you’re cooking for.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It will be fun,” he insisted, beginning the preparation for his next dish. “Just as soon as I have the makings of a decent meal on the dining table. No, Zelda, not again!” He caught the spoon with cat-like reflexes as it was flung into the air and dropped it in the sink. He put his hands on his hips and stared at the little girl. She grinned back at him. “I suppose you’re done then.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Claire laughed and took that as her cue to pick her up and wipe her mouth clean before letting her join her adoptive brother in the playpen. “You’re driving yourself crazy. Look at you!” She stood straight and sniffed the air. “Hey, I think you left the rolls in the oven.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crap,” he cried, pulling the blackened rolls out and setting them on the counter. He brought his hands to his face and groaned, collapsing on the floor against the cabinets. “This was supposed to be a family dinner, Claire.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brushing aside the fact that he’d just called her family for the moment, she dropped to her knees by his side and put a hand on his shoulder. “It will be. Stop being so hard on yourself. Something came up and it’s not your fault. Take it easy. It won’t be fun if all you’re doing is worrying about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can’t order pizzas on Christmas.” Jim looked more stricken than before, if that was even possible. Which, for him, it definitely was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m pretty sure Stuart would be happy to whip something up for us,” Claire suggested, only partly joking. Jim looked like he was about to cry. “Talk to me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turned to her desperately. “I just need to do this one thing for you guys. You’ve done so much for me. I need to return the favour somehow.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? You’ve done plenty for us!” Claire exclaimed. She was a little too loud for the children’s liking, so she got up to comfort them before they could scream and wake the others. “Christmas is for you to spend with your family. You can cook us meals anytime. You do that anyway, Jim,” she said softly. “Please, enjoy tonight. For me,” she pleaded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jim sighed, pulling his knees to his chest. Claire sat beside him and ran her fingers through his hair. He hid his face against his elbows. “I hate feeling so useless.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know,” she said, pulling him to her as she settled down to a more comfortable position on the floor. Her heart ached every time the subject came up. She could tell him he wasn’t useless as many times as there were minutes in a day, and he wouldn’t believe it. Not if he couldn’t prove to himself that he was more than just the Trollhunter. He’d gone from having everything, being the protector of their little group, to the one pushed to the sidelines until he was needed. He was just the support in his own eyes. She had been in that position before, and she’d hated it herself. But she did what she could, and that was what mattered. Jim had the habit of pushing himself to be in the thick of things even when it wasn’t necessary. She understood it, but seeing the way it ate at his spirit crushed her. It made her feel… useless. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It always came back to that one word. She hated the word and she hated how she couldn’t convince her own boyfriend that he was doing enough just by being around for now. That was more than enough for her. Stars above knew he needed a break, but he just wouldn’t let himself take it slow. There was little she could do about that, so she had to believe that holding him while he pulled himself back together was enough, just for now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stayed like that for a while, dinner prep forgotten. It could have been hours and she would’ve been fine with it, but a glance at the clock told her it had only been 15 minutes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jim stirred, dragging a hand down his face. He pulled away and she saw that his face was flushed. “Sorry about that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t ever be sorry.” She swung her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re too good to us, Jim. Take a break, just this once. Krel can get Stuart to pack a load of Diablo Maximus burritos and we’ll be good to go,” she laughed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ve only got two bathrooms,” Jim scoffed. “Maybe pizza wouldn’t be so bad…” He grabbed her hand as she stood to get her phone. “Just this once, okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she grinned and texted the group for topping preferences. Immediately the chat came alive with enraged comments about pineapples on pizza. “Save the food for another day, will you?” She gestured at the incomplete meal as Jim started packing it away into boxes for later. “I don’t actually want to miss out on Jim Lake’s Christmas dinner.”</span>
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